I. THE BLUNDER YEARS (YEARS 1-2)

In the nerdiest way, it was a fated coupling. During junior year of high school, Alexander was the captain of the debate team. Teddy was the captain of the speech team.

He won her over by baking her a tin of Danish Christmas cookies and learning (the first half of) her favorite song on the piano. He didn't know that by that point, she'd already written extensively in her diary about his eyes “that looked like the galaxy” (yes, she knows now that's both cliche and the cringest thing ever written).

On their first date, Teddy brought Alexander home to introduce him to her parents, who used the opportunity to get him to move furniture for 40 minutes. And from then on, they spent nearly every day together, laughing so loudly that Emma – Alexander's patient twin sister with an adjoining bedroom – would yell at them to quiet down.

II. LONG DISTANCE (YEARS 3-6)

Their choice of colleges were not ideal for a relationship.

As Alexander settled into UPenn's colonial brick campus, Teddy was roughly 2700 miles away at UCLA, moving into a Spanish-style dorm on a palm-tree lined street.

For four long years, they shuttled across the country on red-eye Spirit airline flights, squeezing into each other's extra long twin bed and crashing each other's lectures.

And in between visits, they had FaceTime.

III. CROSS COUNTRY TOUR (YEARS 7-11)

Several times over the next few years, Teddy and Alexander packed up all their belongings in their Honda CRV and moved to a new city.

First to Concord, New Hampshire, where they rode out the worst years of the pandemic in a 400 sq ft apartment and perfected walking on icy sidewalks.

Then to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they learned to be outdoors people but – despite their best efforts– not beach people.

Finally, they moved onto the third floor of a brownstone in Brooklyn, which is often overflowing with friends and family.

They feel very lucky.